Committee advances agenda bill to use Ecology grant for Herrera NPDES Phase 2 permit support

Staff presented an agenda bill proposing a contract with Herrera for support on NPDES Phase 2 permit obligations and related public‑education work. Pat, a staff member who previously presented on the item, told the committee, “we get a grant every year from the Department of Ecology to help us manage our NPDES permits,” and said the proposed scope would continue a behavioral‑change public‑education program first implemented in 2022.

The proposed contract amount in the presentation was $68,000 and staff said the work would be paid with the Ecology grant (staff identified a roughly $130,000 grant as the grant source). The scope includes continued outreach and content creation, attention to overburdened or disadvantaged communities and coordination with a PR firm and regional partners.

During discussion, a committee member raised budget concerns and asked for a burn‑rate projection for the stormwater operations fund. The member summarized current encumbrances as: “we spent $415,000. We have $1,100,000 of internal charges and $384,000 of previously approved contracts for a lump sum of $1,900,000 already encumbered out of a budget of $2,500,000 as of, let’s call it, June.” A finance‑area staff member responded that a large portion of the encumbrances are internal service charges (administrative and internal overhead) that are budgeted but not yet spent, and said staff would provide a burn‑rate projection as a follow‑up.

Committee action: members agreed to move the agenda bill forward on the consent calendar; staff noted that the grant covers the proposed contract and there would be no net cost to the stormwater operations fund for the Herrera contract itself, though committee members asked staff to return with the requested burn projection to show the fund’s remaining discretionary capacity.

Why it matters: NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit requirements are regulatory obligations for municipal stormwater programs. The Phase 2 permit adds community‑education and equity elements; staff said the revised permit requires attention to overburdened communities and that the proposed contract supports meeting those requirements.

What’s next: staff will include the item on the consent calendar, provide the requested burn‑rate projection for the stormwater operations fund, and return materials for council action under the normal consent and public‑hearing process.

Ending: The committee did not take a final contract award vote at the meeting; the item was advanced for consent and pending the supplemental financial projection requested by committee members.